1900 United Kingdom general election

1900 United Kingdom general election
← 1895 26 September – 24 October 1900 1906 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 670 seats in the House of Commons; 336 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	3,260,696; 75.1% (3.3 pp)
	Colours denote the winning party
	Diagram displaying the composition of the House of Commons following the election
Prime Minister before election; Marquess of Salisbury; Conservative	Prime Minister after; election ; Marquess of Salisbury; Conservative

The 1900 United Kingdom general election was held between 26 September and 24 October 1900, following the dissolution of Parliament on 25 September. Also referred to as the Khaki Election (the first of several elections to bear this sobriquet), it was held at a time when it was widely believed that the Second Boer War had effectively been won (though in fact it was to continue for another two years).

The Conservative Party, led by Lord Salisbury and with its Liberal Unionist allies, secured a large majority of 134 seats, despite having received only 5.3% more votes than Henry Campbell-Bannerman's Liberals. This was largely owing to the Conservatives winning 163 seats that were uncontested by others. The Labour Representation Committee, later to become the Labour Party, participated in a general election for the first time. However, it had only been in existence for a few months; as a result, Keir Hardie and Richard Bell were the only LRC Members of Parliament elected in 1900.

This was the first occasion at which Winston Churchill was elected to the House of Commons. He had stood in the same constituency, Oldham, at a by-election held the previous year, but had lost. It was also the final general election of the Victorian era, as well as the last one at which the leader of either of the two largest parties (and by extension, the incumbent Prime Minister) sat in the House of Lords rather than the House of Commons.

Results

Summary of seats returned


Party^[2]^[3]^[4]			Leader	MPs		Aggregate votes
Party^[2]^[3]^[4]			Leader		Of total		Of total^[b]
	Conservative-Liberal Unionist Alliance		Marquess of Salisbury	402	60.0%	1,767,958	50.3%
		Conservative Party	Marquess of Salisbury	317	47.3%	1,428,609	40.8%
		Liberal Unionist Party	Joseph Chamberlain	67	10.0%	300,685	8.5%
		Irish Unionist Party^[c]	Edward James Saunderson	18	2.7%	38,664	1.0%
	Liberal Party		Henry Campbell-Bannerman	183^[a]	27.3%	1,572,323	45.0%
	Irish Parliamentary Party		John Redmond	77	11.5%	62,768	1.8%
	Healyite Nationalist		Tim Healy	3	0.4%	22,174	0.6%
	Labour Representation Committee		Keir Hardie	2	0.3%	62,698	1.3%
	Independent Liberal		N/a	1	0.1%	5,609	0.2%
	Independent Nationalist		N/a	1	0.1%	4,069	0.1%
	Irish Nationalist		T. P. O'Connor^[d]	1	0.1%	2,044	0.1%

Full results

UK General Election 1900
			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist	Marquess of Salisbury	569	402	32	41	−9	60.1	50.2	1,637,683	+1.0
	Liberal	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman	402	183^[a]	38	32	+6	27.4	45.1	1,469,500	−0.5
	Irish Parliamentary	John Redmond	83	76	2	8	−6	11.3	1.8	57,576	−0.8
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Keir Hardie	15	2	2	0	+2	0.3	1.3	41,900	N/A
	Ind. Nationalist	N/A	18	6	6	0	+6	0.9	0.7	23,706
	Ind. Conservative	N/A	7	0	0	0	0	0	0.4	13,713
	Independent Liberal	N/A	3	1	1	0	+1	0.1	0.2	6,423	+0.1
	Independent	N/A	3	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	4,800	+0.2
	Scottish Workers	Robert Allan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	3,107	N/A
	Ind. Liberal Unionist	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	1,855	N/A
	Independent Labour	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	433	+0.0

Voting summary

Popular vote

Liberal			45.0%
Conservative			41.8%
Liberal Unionist			8.5%
Irish Parliamentary			1.8%
Labour R. C.			1.3%
Others			1.6%

Popular vote (Coalitions)

Con/LU Alliance			50.3%
Liberal			45.0%
Irish Parliamentary			1.8%
Labour R. C.			1.3%
Others			1.6%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats

Conservative			50.0%
Liberal Unionist			10.0%
Liberal			27.3%
Irish Parliamentary			11.6%
Labour R. C.			0.3%
Others			0.8%

Popular vote (Coalitions)

Con/LU Alliance			60.0%
Liberal			27.3%
Irish Parliamentary			11.6%
Labour R. C.			0.3%
Others			0.8%

Notes

1 2 3 Figure includes Speaker of the House of Commons William Court Gully in Carlisle
↑ Adjusted for multi-member constituencies.
↑ Stood under the Conservative Party Whip; all figures are attributed to the Conservative Party nationally.
↑ O'Connor was also a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party.

↑ Contested the 1895 election as two separate parties, the Irish National League and the Irish National Party, but reunified before 1900.
↑ Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.
↑ Ferris, Wesley (2011). "The Candidates of the Liberal Unionist Party, 1886–1912". Parliamentary History. 30# 2: 148. doi:10.1111/j.1750-0206.2011.00246.x.
↑ "UK General Elections Results 1832-2019". Retrieved 12 August 2026.
↑ All parties with more than 1,000 votes shown.
↑ "General Election Results 1885-1979". Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2022.

References

Craig, F.W.S. (1989), British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0900178302
Garvin, J.L. (1934), The life of Joseph Chamberlain: Volume Three 1895–1900, London, pp. 571–592 on dissolving Parliament, pp. 593–607 on Khaki election{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)^{[publisher missing]}
Hinton, Guy (2015), "Newcastle and the Boer War: Regional Reactions to an Imperial War", Northern History, 52 (2): 272–294, doi:10.1179/0078172X15Z.00000000092, S2CID 163032144
Marsh, Peter T. (1994), Joseph Chamberlain: Entrepreneur in Politics, pp. 492–502^{[publisher missing]}
Readman, Paul (2001), "The Conservative party, patriotism, and British politics: the case of the general election of 1900", Journal of British Studies, 40 (1): 107–145, doi:10.1086/386236, JSTOR 3070771, S2CID 145429939
Roberts, Andrew (1999), Salisbury: Victorian Titan, pp. 766–783^{[publisher missing]}

External links

Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 Archived 30 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine

Manifestos

[speaker-2] 1 2 3 Figure includes Speaker of the House of Commons William Court Gully in Carlisle

[6] Adjusted for multi-member constituencies.

[7] Stood under the Conservative Party Whip; all figures are attributed to the Conservative Party nationally.

[8] O'Connor was also a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party.

[1] Contested the 1895 election as two separate parties, the Irish National League and the Irish National Party, but reunified before 1900.

[3] Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.

[Ferris,_Wesley_2011-4] Ferris, Wesley (2011). "The Candidates of the Liberal Unionist Party, 1886–1912". Parliamentary History. 30# 2: 148. doi:10.1111/j.1750-0206.2011.00246.x.

[5] "UK General Elections Results 1832-2019". Retrieved 12 August 2026.

[9] All parties with more than 1,000 votes shown.

[10] "General Election Results 1885-1979". Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2022.

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See also: Elections in England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Great Britain